Last weekend Jake and I hit the beach so he could play volleyball
with some friends and I could soak up the sun. Surprisingly (for Jake) we
stayed a few hours and I ended up getting a good little tan before my trip to
Boston... which was much needed considering the week called for me to be in
dresses. That's beside the point of this
story though... the best part is what went down when we left.
As
we walked back to our car, we made comments on how packed the streets were and
how living at the beach would be tough this time of year but at least people
couldn't park in your driveway. Jake told me that if people parked in
your driveway you could have them towed, but you'd still have the inconvenience
of doing so. The idea that people would find it appropriate to block a
private driveway blew my mind, it just seemed so inconsiderate.
Maybe
a minute after this short exchange we crossed the street only to see a busted
old rodeo parked perpendicularly behind my car and the car beside me.
I looked at Jake and something along the lines of "seriously?"
was all that came out of my mouth. We'd literally just been having this
conversation and now found ourselves blocked in our space for no reason other
than this person clearly didn't want to go a little further to find an open
space. Immediately I became annoyed because it was well over 100 degrees
and I was certain with how crowded the beach was that we were not going to find
the owner.
My
next move was to call a towing company who directed me to the police since it
was public property. Apparently they can only tow illegally parked cars
and this car was not illegally parked, just inconveniently. I called the
non-emergency line and had just requested an officer come out when I see two
older women approaching- one shaking her finger and yelling. I tried
eavesdropping on what she was saying to Jake and quickly discovered she was the
owner of the clunker blocking me in. I let the operator know the owner
had arrived and that I would call if an officer was still needed. Wait,
the story gets better.
Once
I was off the phone I could hear her better and everything about her and what
she was saying was r.u.d.e. She basically told us that we had no right no
park in front of her property and that gravel area was parking for a private
residence. I politely explained that before parking I checked for private
driveway signage but there wasn't any nor was there a house # or visual of her
home for me to know that. She said that her signage was ignored in the
past so she took it down and the police would never tow anyone so she just
started taking matters into her own hands. She let me know that she was
sick of people doing this and she could easily go back down to the beach and
leave me hanging there unless I paid her $20.
Now, I started to get fired up. I had been
apologizing and telling her I honestly wouldn't have parked there had I known
it was residential parking and that while I understood her frustration, I
wasn't someone who had parked here before and she was treating me like a repeat
offender. While it made sense that she was frustrated, I wasn't going to
pay her to move her car. I explained that if she wouldn't please (yes, I
was sure to say please) move her car that I had already requested an officer
come out and I was sure they would ask her to do so. She responded that
she knew for a fact that they wouldn't make her do a thing because she wasn't
parked illegally. This got my wheels turning...
How
is that she could be blocking a car in a private drive and not be illegally
parked? Also, why wasn't she able to have cars towed or receive help from
officers in the past? Well, probably because technically it was public
property. There wasn't a mailbox or house # because I think her property
was a guest house of some sort in the back yard of another beach home. So
in reality she had no driveway. Should she? Probably. But she
made no effort to deter folks from parking there. Surely a cone or
no parking sign (even if i wasn't legitimate) would deter some
people. Then if someone consciously disregarded it surely that isn't
someone you would feel little sympathy for when blocking them in. It's a
risk they took, right? Regardless, I continued to apologize and tell her
that nothing was done maliciously on my part, but her behavior was intentional
and I refused to pay her for simply turning her car on and moving a few feet
forward.
So
what'd she end up doing?
She
moved (hesitantly and complaining, of course). Did she pull into my spot?
Nope. She reversed just enough to let me out and blocked the other
two cars parked to my right. She got out and said she hoped I didn't know
the people who owned those cars because she wasn't moving again.
Oh,
and I forgot to mention her friend's commentary during the breaks in
conversation. She went on an on about how if we're from the beach we
should know better than to park in front of people's homes. Again, I'm
still wondering where said home was... but that is neither here nor there at
this point. Jake explained that we were very familiar with parking which
is why we've never had this issue before now. He also told them that they
should know what to expect during summer and that any type of signage would be
better than nothing and responding the way they had.
We
ended up finally leaving. No police or cash was involved. Maybe a
few sassy comments ensued on the ride back, but can you really blame me?
Seriously.
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